Improvement in ventilators for ships



vUNITEIJ STATES PATENT; er1-FICE.

WILLIAM EITZ 'JAMES THIERS, 0E NEW YORK, Iv. rjnssIGNoR To UNIVERSAL-SHIP-YENTILATOR, ALARM, AND OF NEW YORK CITY.

BILGE-IUMP MANUFACTURING COMPANY,

IMPROVEMENT |N wJI-:NTH AToR's FOR SHIPS.

- p Speciiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 1v17,484, datedJuly 25, 1871.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Bei known that I, WILLIAM Frrz JAMES THIERS, M. D., ofthe city, countyand State of New York, have invented a new and useful Method andApparatus forYentilating Vessels, of

VvWhich the following is a speciiicationr.

My invention relates to an improved method and device for employing theweight, inertia, or momentum ofWater to impart motion to air, which, bymeans of a suitable arrangement of pipes and valves, may cause acontinuous current, so as .to exhaust foul or :vitiated air from ,belowthe deck of a steam or sailing-vessel of any kind or dimensions,or maydisplace foul air by forcing fresh air in from the exterior. For thispurpose I employ any suitable arrangement of pipes, chambers orcylinders, communicating at their lower ends with the water in which thevessel floats, and at their upper ends with any suitable system ofVentilating-pipes controlled by automatic valves, so that a rocking orpitching motion of the vessel, by causing the iirst-named pipes,chambers, or cylinders to alternately descend to a greater depth in theWater and again rise therein, will alternately eject a portion of theair contained in such pipes or chambers, and, by again partiallyexhausting them, cause an iniiux of air from another source. Myinvention further consists in combining with a water-chamber,appliedsubstantially as herein set forth, a chamber arranged to receive airfrom the said water-chamber and prevent its return" or to imprison abody of compressed air, and, by means of a fog-horn or other appliance,to sound a continuous alarm when required. In carrying out the inventionit is preA ferred that the exhaustion of such pipes or chambers, by thedescent of the water within them, shall cause them to be ii'lled withvitiated air from the ships hold or other part below the deck, and

the reflux of water into such pipes or chambers Y shall eject the air onthe outside of the vessel. The heaviest or foul may thus be removed fromany part of the ships hold, and its place will naturally be supplied byfresh air forced in by atmospheric pressure.

Figure l is a transverse section illustrating my apparatus, the vesselbeing on an even keel. Fig. 2 is a similar section, illustrating theoperation of the apparatus when the vessel has a rolling motion. Fig. 3is a plan, showing the location of the pipes at bow and stern.

. A may represent the hull of the vessel. B B1 B? Bare vertical chambersor pipes of large capacity, which may be located between the planking ofthe vessel or within the hold, or, When the apparatus is to be adaptedto vessels already built, the chambers may be applied onrtheoutsidethereof'. H The lower ends vof said pipes or chambers communicate withthe waterin which the vessel lioats, and preferably at a sufficientdistance below the surface to prevent their said lower ends rising.above the water by any motion of the ship, though this is not essentialor important, except inasmuch as it is desirable to effect by the motionof the ship as great a motion of the lower openin gs of the pipesthrough the water as may be practicable, in order to secure the mosteffectual action of the apparatus. C C represent air-pipes communicatingfrom theupper parts of the chambers B B1 B2 B3 to any part of the vesselwhich it is desired to ventilate. In the preferred form of my inventionthese pipes are provided with check-valves D, Which permit the air toilow freely from said pipes C into the chambers B B1 B2 B3, but preventthe reiiux of air from the said chambers into or through the pipes C. EE represent pipes, also communicating with the upper parts of thechambers B B1 B2 B3, and discharging in any place external to thevessel. The pipes E E are provided with check-valves, E1,which preventthe reflux of air through them into the chambers B B1 B2 B3. Fog-horns Fmay be applied to one or more of the discharge-pipes Eand arranged to besounded when desired, as described in my former patent, dated November29,1870. The chambers B may be divided by diaphragms b having valves g,so as to provide air-reservoirs Gr above.

rlhe parts being constructed and arranged in any manner substantially asabove described, it Will be evident that the descent of any one of thechambers B Bl B2 B3 into the water Will, by the rise of Water into suchchamber, cause aportion ofthe contained air to be ejected therefromthrough the discharge-pipe E, While any one of the said chambers whichrises inthe water will, by the fall of water within it, be partiallyexhausted, causing air to be forced into it through the pipe C byatmospheric pressure, andas the pipe C communicates with anypart ofthevessel which is to be ventilated, vitiated air will be taken therefromand its place supplied by fresh air from Without. By this means anypitching or rolling motion of the vessel will, as long` as it iscontinued, produce a constant and active ventilation of the hold orother interior part of the ship, the Weight, inertia, or momentum ofWater received from outside into the chambers B B1 B2 B3, and againdischarged therefrom,consttutin g the motive power. As a modification ofmyinvention, the valves may be reversed so that E will act as theinductionpipe,taking fresh air from Without, and the pipes C willdeliver it into the interior part of the vessel, thus displacing anddischarging the vitiated air therein contained. This modiiication of theinvention is considered inferior tothat rst described, because, as itfrequently happens that the vitiated air is heavier than the atmosphere,there is danger that the Worst air may not be removed 5 whereas, byemploying the suction-pipes C to remove the vitiated air, said pipes, bycommunicating With the lowest stratum, maybe made to eft'ectually carryoff that which it is most important to discharge or change. For somepurposes it is preferred to provide the chambers B With diaphragmsbthrough which the air-pipes C pass and in which diaphragms check-valvesg are applied. By this means a chamber, G, isprovided above saiddiaphragms b to receive air which is ejected from the Water-chamber B,and prevent its return. If, now, any excessive pressure be produced inthe chamber G, by reason of air being forced out of the chamber B intothe chamber Gr faster than it can escape from the latter, the air maycontinue to escape from said chamber during the return motion of thevessel,

and leave the Water-chamber B free to receive a new charge of airthrough the pipe C, and When a fog-horn, F, is employed in connectionwith the air-chamber G the apparatus may be made to sound a continuousalarm by a body of air being at each motion imprisoned and slightlycompressed in the chamber G.

My present improvement differs essentially from the apparatus havingconnected Waterchambers in these respects: First, the action of thevarious chambers is entirely independent. Second, the eiect is producednot only by the motion of the vessel itself, but by the undulatorymotion of the Water independently of the vessel. The apparatus isthus'rendered much more sensitive and effective.

I claim as my invention- 1. rEhe method and apparatus herein describedfor Ventilating vessels, by means of chambers B B1 B2 B3 communicatingat their lower parts with the Water in which the vessel floats, and attheir upper parts with air-pipes controlled by valves, substantially asexplained.

2. 'lhe air-chamber G, in the described combination with theWater-chamber B, employed in connection with the valve g to prevent thereux of air into the said Water-chamber, or for use, in connection witha horn, F, to sound a continuous alarm.

WM. F. J. THIERS, M. D.

Witnesses:

OcTAvIUs KNIGHT, H. C. ELLIOTT.

